Wire tying apparatus including timing and stopping mechanism

ABSTRACT

An improved apparatus for tying a relatively stiff tie wire around a cluster of wires or cables by means of counterrotating discs having wide slots which enable the discs to be placed down around the cluster of wires to be tied. The apparatus has a timing mechanism for providing a predetermined number of revolutions of the wrapping discs and a stopping mechanism for stopping the discs at a specified point to insure that the slots will be aligned when the tie is completed thereby facilitating removal of the apparatus.

United States Patent 1191 Bartilson [54] WIRE TYING APPARATUS INCLUDING TIMING AND STOPPING MECHANISM [75] Inventor: Benjamin M. Bartilson, Columbus,

Ohio

[73] Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Secretary 01 the Army [22] Filed: June 17,1971 21 Appl.No.: 154,110

[52] U.S. Cl ..140/93 A,140/115, 140/119, 140/124 [51] Int. Cl. ..B21f 7/00, B211 15/04 [58] Field 0fSearch...140/93 A, 93.6,115, 119, 122,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,300,166 4/1919 Hatch ..140/93 A 1,884,409 10/1932 Vienneau ....242/7.15 2,713,971 7/1955 Bud et al. ..74/805 1 Mar. 27, 1973 2,959,983 11/1960 Wise ..74/804 3,053,100 9/1962 Luhm.... ..74/55 2,649,121 8/1953 Reck ..140/124 3,211,187 10/1965 Paule etal ..140/119 3,388,725 6/1968 Richardson ..140/119 3,570,553 3/1971 Bartilson et a1 ..140/93 A Primary Examiner-Charles W. Lanham Assistant Examiner-E. M. Combs Attorney-Charles K. Wright, Jr. et al.

[5 7 ABSTRACT An improved apparatus for tying a relatively stiff tie wire around a cluster of wires or cables by means of counterrotating discs having wide slots which enable the discs to be placed down around the cluster of wires to be tied. The apparatus has a timing mechanism for providing a predetermined number of revolutions of the wrapping discs and a stopping mechanism for stopping the discs at a specified point to insure that the slots will be aligned when the tie is completed thereby facilitating removal of the apparatus.

3 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures PATENIEDmzmn 7 2,553

SHEET 1 or 4 FIG.|

INVENTOR.

BENJAMIN M. BARTILSON Q L, UAMO ATTORNEY PATENTEUHARZYIHYS 7? g] 6: 65 5 FIG.3 E5

60 L" lfi w QM FIG.4

INVENTOR. BENJAMIN M. BARTILSON ATTORNEY PATENTfinuARzneza ,7 2,553

FIG.6 64

INVENTOR. BENJAMIN M. BARTILSON ATTORNEY- PATENTEDMAR27 197s SHEET 4 0F 4 INVENTOR.

BENJAMIN M. BARTILSON Yklnha ATTORNEY WIRE TYING APPARATUS INCLUDING TIMING AND STOPPING MECHANISM The invention herein described was made in the course of or under a contract or subcontract thereunder (or grant) with the Department of the Army.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION I. Field of the Invention The invention has utility whenever it is necessary to join a cluster of wires, cables or combinations thereof. The invention has particular utility in communications and associated fields where the wrap must resist tensile loads and slippage of the wires or cables with respect to the wrap and with respect to each other.

2. Description of the Prior Art Until recently the primary method of tying cables together was by hand, with or without the aid of various gripping instruments. Application Ser. No. 756,557, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,570,553 in which the present inventor was a joint inventor, discloses the basic tying machine that the invention of the present application improves. The present invention enables automatic cycling of the apparatus and facilitates removal of the apparatus from the completed wrap.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The tying apparatus has counter rotatable power driven discs with a pulley on each disc which engage the tie wire and as the discs rotate in opposite directions each pulley acts to restrain the wire as the other pulls on it thereby producing a tight wrap. The number of revolutions the discs make and therefore the number of wraps that the tie wire makes is controlled by a timing mechanism The timing mechanism is a planetary gearing arrangement and comprises an eccentric hub which rotates with one of the bevel gears of the driving mechanism for the discs; a spur gear which fits around the eccentric hub; an internal gear with a cammed outer surface which rotates about the central shaft of the bevel gear but which in part occupies the same plane as the spur gear; and a rod which actuates a valve when engaged by the cam surface. The spur gear and internal gear have meshing teeth and the ratio of one to the other determines the number of revolutions the bevel gear can make before the cam surface on the internal gear actuates the push rod. A stop arm on the spur gear restrains the spur gear from rotating as it travels around the eccentric path of the hub.

The apparatus is stopped by a stopping mechanism when the desired number of wraps by the tie wire are made. A stop arm engages the side ofa notch in one of the drive bevel gears causing the apparatus to stop in a position with the discs always in the same alignment. This allows slots in the discs to coincide so that the apparatus may be easily removed from a completed tie and ready to be repositioned for the next tie.

Accordingly, it is an object of the improved invention to provide a tying apparatus on which the number of wraps of the tie wire can be easily and precisely set.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved means to stop the tying apparatus so that slots in the wrapping discs are aligned to release the wire cluster at the end ofa tie.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an end view of the drive mechanism;

FIG. 2 is a schematic front view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows the internal operating parts of the typing machine;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the lower portion of the upper housing showing the stopping and timing mechanisms;

FIG. 5 shows the tying machine ready for operation;

FIG. 6 is a schematic of the pneumatic system;

FIG. 7 shows the timing mechanism disassembled;

FIG. 8 is a disassembleld view in perspective showing the relation and mounting of the stopping mechanism and driving mechanism; and

FIG. 9 is a perspective view ofa portion of the pneumatic system illustrated in the left-hand side of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 the tying apparatus employs counter-rotating discs 10, 11 which have wide slots 12, 13 enabling the discs to be slipped down over the cluster of wires to be tied. A tie wire is fed down through the apparatus to the disc area where, in a plane perpendicular to the cluster of wires to be tied, it is engaged by pulleys or protrusions (not shown) extending from the discs 10, 11. The discs 10, 11 are driven in opposite directions by the driving mechanism 40 which will be described later in detail. As the discs 10, 11 rotate the tie wire is pulled around the cluster of wires with each pulley on an end of the wire and acting as a restraint to the other end being pulled by the other pulley. The pulleys can be positioned as disclosed in U. S. application Ser. No. 756,557 or they can be arranged in any other workable manner and be used along with the present improvements.

The driving mechanism 40 for the wrapping heads 10, 11 has a motor 41 (preferably air driven) which rotates a first bevel gear 42 which drives bevel gears 43-43. Attached to bevel gears 43-43 are spur gears 44-44 which in turn mesh with and drive two other spur gears 45-45. Spur gears 45-45 each mesh with and drive a pair of spur gears 46-46 and 46'-46'.

Two of the spur gears 46-46 mesh with and drive the front wrapping head 10; the remaining two spur gears 46'-46' mesh with and drive the back wrapping head 1 1. Since bevel gears 43-43 mesh on opposite sides of the first bevel gear 42 one wrapping head will rotate clockwise while the other wrapping head rotates counterclockwise.

Referring to FIGS. 3-6 the major structural components of the tying machine 47 are: a lower housing assembly 48 comprising a front head plate 49, a back head plate 50, a front bevel housing 51 and a back bevel housing 52; a central frame 53; a bracket 54 and an upper housing 55. A handle is attached to the upper housing 55 so that the tying mechanism 47 can be hand held.

In operation the tying machine 47 is placed over the wire cluster 26 with the cluster 26 passing through the slots 12 and 13. The operator inserts a tie wire 25 in the housing opening 56 and pushes the plunger knob 57 downward. The lower part of the plunger rod 58 contacts the tie wire 25 forcing it through the guide tube 59 (see FIG. 2). The tie wire 25 continues its downward movement until it is deflected by a friction plate (not shown) which causes sufficient drag on the tie wire 25 to prevent it from falling out of the machine. The tie wire 25 is then in position to be engaged by the discs in the same manner as shown in application Ser. No. 756,557. At the end of the stroke of the plunger knob 57, the midpoint of the tie wire 25 is located at the center of the wire cluster 26 and simultaneously, a cam surface (not shown), on the upper end of the plunger rod 58 actuates a follower (not shown) which is mounted on the inside of the housing 55 so as to be in alignment with bleeder valve 60. The follower activates the bleeder valve 60 which activates the main valve 61 through line 62. The main valve 61 connects the main air line 63 to line 64 and connects line 25 to the atmosphere which bleeds the pressure from the springreturned air cylinder 66. Air is supplied to the motor 41 causing it to rotate and drive the wrapping heads 10, 11 by means of the driving mechanism 40. After the tie is completed, the timing mechanism 67 (described in detail elsewhere) activates the second bleeder valve 68 by movement of the push rod 69 (FIG. 7). The main valve 61 is activated by the bleeder valve 60 through line 62 and connectsthe main air line 63 to line 65. Line 65 supplies air to the stop valve 71 through the check valve 73 and line 74 to line 64 which allows the motor 41 to continue to rotate. The flow of air to the motor 41 is interrupted in the stop valve 71 by means of the stopping mechanism 75 (described in detail elsewhere) and the motor 41 is thereby stopped with the wrapping heads 10, ll properly positioned to allow removal of the machine 47 from the completed tie.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4 the stopping mechanism 75, as stated, positively aligns the wrapping heads 10, 11 at the end of the tie so that the machine 47 can be removed from the completed tie without difficulty. When the tie is completed the mainvalve 61 has been returned to the stop position. While in this position air flows from the main valve 61 to the stop valve 71 by way of line 65 and to the air cylinder 66 by way of line 70. Air pressure in the air cylinder 66 produces a force on the stop arm 76 by way of the cylinder rod 77. The stop arm 76 is restrained from moving by means of the cam surface 78 on the back side of the back bevel gear 43. The cylinder rod 77 and stop valve spool 79 are connected by the clevis 80. The stop cylinder rod 77 is not able to move because of the cam surface 78 and therefore the stop valve spool 79 remains in the same open position allowing the air to flow by way of line 74 to drive the motor 41. As motor 41 rotates the back bevel gear 43, the cam surface 78 allows the stop arm 76 to rotatearound pin 81 as the notch 82 in the cam surface 78 engages the stop arm 76. AS the stop arm 76 rotates, the stop spool valve 79 is pulled by the cylinder rod 77 and therefore is moved in the valve 71. This movement causes the air going to the motor 4 to be throttled, thus reducing the motor speed. When the stop arm 76 has rotated its maximum amount by way of the air cylinder 66, the side of the notch 82 in the cam surface 78 of the back bevel gear 43 will contact the side of the stop arm 76. The contact of the stop arm 76 and the side of the notch 82 in the bevel gear cam surface 78 insure the same stopping position of the bevel gears and therefore the wrapping heads 10, 11. When the tying operation is reinitiated, the main valve spool (not shown) is returned to the tying position which reduces the air pressure in lines and to atmospheric pressure. The air cylinder rod 77 is then returned to its original position by an internal spring (not shown) allowing the bevel gears 43-43 to rotate.

Thefunction of the timing mechanism is to provide for a predetermined number of revolutions of the wrapping heads 10, 11, thus constituting an automatic cycle. The utilization of an automatic cycle will allow for minimizing the number of revolutions required by the wrapping heads 10, 11 therefore minimizing the tying cycle time. FIG. 7 illustrates the automatic cycling elements and their respective positions. The bevel gear 43 (see also FIGS. 3 and 4) is part of the drive system for which the number of revolutions are to be counted. The eccentric hub 83 rotates with the bevel gear 43. The hub 83 causes the teeth 84 of spur gear 85 to contact the teeth 86 of internal gear 87. Spur gear 85 is restrained by arm 88 and does not rotate. The rotation of the eccentric hub 83 about the center line of the shaft 89 then causes the contact position between the spur gear 85 and the internal gear 86 to change. Internal gear 86 has a section 105 (FIG. 4; section 105 is not shown in FIG. 7) which extends down to the shaft 89 permitting the gear 86 to rotate with the shaft 89. By utilizing a different number of teeth on the spur 85 and internal 86 gears, a reduction in the number of revolutions from the eccentric hub 83 can be obtained at the cam 90. The proper combination of spur gear and internal gear teeth 84, 86 will provide the desired number of revolutions of the cam 90. The cam 90 actuates valve 68 by way of push rod 69 which provides a signal to reset the main valve 61 in the tying machine. By means of this timer, the stop mechanism 75 and the wrapping heads 10, 11 are rotated an exact number of revolutions, for each tie made and then positively aligned.

The above disclosure describes the basic operation of the improved tying machine and gives detailed descriptions of the improvements. A detailed description of the basic machine is contained in application Ser. No. 756,557. The changes made from the basic machine to obtain the improved machine are readily apparent from a comparison of the two disclosures.

I claim:

1'. Apparatus for tying a plurality of wires, cables and combinations thereof together, comprising:

a. two counter rotatable slotted discs, said slots being aligned to receive a cluster of wires having their longitudinal axes substantially perpendicular to said discs;

b. means on said discs for engaging a tying wire;

c. drive means for rotating said discs in opposite directions causing the tying wire to be wrapped around said cluster of wires;

. pneumatic means including first and second valve means, said first valve means actuated by manual operator means carried by the apparatus for ad'- vancing said tying wire and for simultaneously initiating operation of said drive means;

. epicyclic gear train timing mechanism connected to said drive means and interconnected to said second valve means; and

f stop means for said drive means connected to said 3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said epicyclic pneumatic means and actuated by said second gear train timing mechanism comprises: valve means upon completion of a predetermined a. an eccentric hub attached to the side of a gear of travel of said timing mechanism and movement of said drive means, said hub fitting over a stationary an operator connected to said second valve means 5 shaft; so that said slots are aligned to enable the cluster a spur gear engageable around sai Said p of wires to be removed when a tie is completed. g having a restraining arm and external teeth;

2. The apparatus of l i 1, h i id d i an internal gear centered on said shaft, said intermeans comprises a motor and a gear train linking said gear having internal teeth for ehgagemeht With discs to said motor and said stop means comprises: 10 531d p gear external teeth and further havlhg an a. a cam surface on the periphery of a gear of said external Cam Surface;

drive means, said cam surface having a notch; a rod positioned to be Pushed into Contact With a b, a st ar engageable i h id Cam surface valve by said external cam surface of said internal t h; d gear to actuate said means for applying a stopping means f l i a force on said Stop arm force to said drive means and said discs, the time at whereby the application of force causes engage- "Y 581d rod 1 SPuShed h h dependent p the ment of said stop arm in said notch which will stop W of revolutlon of sald Internal f as deter said drive means and said discs with said disc slots mlned by the P E Y number of 531d teeth of being aligned coextensively to facilitate removal of sad Spur gear and sad mtemal geah said apparatus from said cluster of wires. 

1. Apparatus for tying a plurality of wires, cables and combinations thereof together, comprising: a. two counter rotatable slotted discs, said slots being aligned to receive a cluster of wires having their longitudinal axes substantially perpendicular to said discs; b. means on said discs for engaging a tying wire; c. drive means for rotating said discs in opposite directions causing the tying wire to be wrapped around said cluster of wires; d. pneumatic means including first and second valve means, said first valve means actuated by manual operator means carried by the apparatus for advancing said tying wire and for simultaneously initiating operation of said drive means; e. epicyclic gear train timing mechanism connected to said drive means and interconnected to said second valve means; and f. stop means for said drive means connected to said pneumatic means and actuated by said second valve means upon completion of a predetermined travel of said timing mechanism and movement of an operator connected to said second valve means so that said slots are aligned to enable the cluster of wires to be removed when a tie is completed.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said drive means comprises a motor and a gear train linking said discs to said motor and said stop means comprises: a. a cam surface on the periphery of a gear of said drive means, said cam surface having a notch; b. a stop arm engageable with said cam surface notch; and c. means for applying a force on said stop arm whereby the application of force causes engagement of said stop arm in said notch which will stop said drive means and said discs with said disc slots being aligned coextensively to facilitate removal of said apparatus from said cluster of wires.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said epicyclic gear train timing mechanism comprises: a. an eccentric hub attached to the side of a gear of said drive means, said hub fitting over a stationary shaft; b. a spur gear engageable around said hub, said spur gear having a restraining arm and external teeth; c. an internal gear centered on said shaft, said internal gear having internal teeth for engagement with said spur gear external teeth and further having an external cam surface; d. a rod positioned to be pushed into contact with a valve by said external cam surface of said internal gear to actuate said means for applying a stopping force to said drivE means and said discs, the time at which said rod is pushed being dependent upon the time of revolution of said internal gear as determined by the respective number of said teeth of said spur gear and said internal gear. 